Alijah Halliburton
Safety / Wyoming
Ed Hunt: How did you feel out there during your Pro Day?
Alijah Halliburton: I think I did pretty great. I hit the numbers that I wanted to and the accomplishments that I wanted to. It was just overall a great day. I had some great footwork with position drills. I caught every ball that I could. Actually, I did catch every ball. I’m happy and pleased with how I did.
Ed Hunt: I saw a few catches where you tracked the ball well. Is that something that was part of your offseason plan?
Alijah Halliburton: Definitely! I knew that I had to catch some deep balls for sure and be able to track them. But I have no problem trying to track deep balls. My hands are big, so I can try to catch everything. I try to do that on that sideline over there.
Ed Hunt: I noticed your tackles went up this year. What do you attribute that to?
Alijah Halliburton: I would probably just attribute that to our defensive scheme. They really put me in a lot of positions to make the play. We use a very gapped out defense and so every hole was gapped out except for mine. Most teams would think they are coming from a free hole, and I come down from like 15 yards and hit the gap. Some people might think I’m a little bit close to the line of scrimmage, but I made pretty much every tackle. The open field tackles as well. Once I get ahold of you that’s what I do. I love to see the ball and get the ball. I love to tackle as well.
Ed Hunt: I notice you are in that age of newer age safeties where you are a little bit taller. Can you give me your exact height measurement and can you give me the advantage height has on something like covering a tight end?
Alijah Halliburton: I think they are measuring me at almost 6’1 or something like that. You know safeties are starting to get a lot bigger. I like my height and my weight. It allows me to guard slots and even tight ends. Got to be at least a little aggressive. Tight ends are evolving as well. They are getting bigger. 6’6 and stuff like that. I think to be able to guard someone like that and not be bullied, it got to be a lot. It can’t just be technique. It has to be a little height as well.
Ed Hunt: Who was the best tight end that you faced?
Alijah Halliburton: Man, there’s like three or four really. Kind of two from this year. There’s a Missouri State and Missouri tight end. I can’t remember the name. He has the longest name too.
Ed Hunt: Oh yeah, Albert Okwuegbunam.
Alijah Halliburton: The CSU tight end as well. He was only like 6’2 or 6’3, but he was like a stud. He was pretty young too. He was like a sophomore. But I’ve never seen a tight end have so much footwork. And how strong he was as well. Another tight end was San Jose State tight end. He was a tight end, maybe like a year or two ago.
Ed Hunt: Josh Oliver?
Alijah Halliburton: Yeah, he was a freak. That was the biggest freak tight end we’ve ever seen. We treated him like a wide receiver because he was running so fast. He’s pretty big as well. That’s really it so far. The San Diego State tight ends. They had two or three that were pretty big. I mean they were good, of course. I’m not trying to downplay them or anything. I guess they just hadn’t shown something like special against us.
Ed Hunt: Can you give me some underclassmen to watch out for next season?
Alijah Halliburton: Ayden Eberhardt. He’s a wide receiver. I think he has a lot of potential. Then probably Esaias Gandy. He’s been my backup, but we’ve been producing a lot of safeties from Wyoming the last couple of years, so I think he will be pretty good as well. And then we got like three running backs that are really pretty good. Xazavian Valladay. I’m pretty sure he made the all-bowl team or something like that. But he’s a stud for sure. Great running back.
